Copwatch vs. Cops: After Freddie Gray

In a year of violent police encounters, a 25-year-old movement to document law enforcement has new urgency. This is the story of Copwatch as told by Michael Brown’s neighbor and Freddie Gray’s friend.

By Poh Si Teng

Aug. 2, 2015

In a year of violent police encounters, much of the conversation has been about cameras: Who should have them, what can they achieve and how can they improve the broken relationship between the police and African-American communities?

Copwatch, an organization created to document police activity and possible harassment, has been at the forefront of the activity since its founding in 1990. But in the wake of Michael Brown’s death in Ferguson, Mo., last August — after a white officer shot him and left his body in the road — the movement has gained a new urgency.

The deaths of Eric Garner in Staten Island, Walter L. Scott in North Charleston, S.C., and Freddie Gray in Baltimore have fueled more outrage and debate because in each case, raw video propelled the incidents into public discussion.

But in Baltimore, in the tense uprising after the death of Freddie Gray, as the video above shows, copwatching was also a form of protest and even provocation — a way to vigorously press for police accountability..

This hybrid of media creation and activism may end up being one of the lasting legacies of Ferguson and the death of Mr. Brown.

But what other changes have emerged over the past year in terms of policing and race in the United States?

New York Times reporters would like to hear readers’ views on the impact of the fatal shooting of Mr. Brown, which set off violent protests and sparked countless conversations about race and police conduct.